A decorated Pandoro
I love the Pandoro, which along with the Panettone, is the traditional Italian Christmas cake. Not only I love it for its simple taste, it’s just a soft and sweet cake with powdered sugar on top, but also because thanks to its shape you can create many interesting designs. Exactly like the one in the photo. Wanna give it a try and amaze your friends at your next Christmas party?
“Christmas plant”
Years ago I spent one school year in Italy with the kids, because I wanted them to attend an Italian public school (yeah, they hated me in the beginning and obviously they didn’t want to leave in the end, same old story…). We stayed in a tiny apartment, where we shared one big bedroom and where we had just one puffy armchair because there wasn’t even enough room for a sofa. Let alone for a Christmas tree. But you don’t need a tree to create the Christmas atmosphere, you just need a plant, some tiny Nutella jars and the Ovetti Kinder (infamously illegal in the States). Oh, happy days!
Photo by Francesca Tosolini
Did you know that in Italy the day after Christmas, also known as giorno di Santo Stefano, is a national holiday? However, it wasn’t always like that. Up until 1948 the day after Christmas was a regular working day, then the government decided to make the Christmas holiday longer and added an extra day to the festivities of the 25th of December. In spite of that Santo Stefano is an important figure for the Catholic Church since he was the first Christian martyr.